A Family of Four
by simply woven
Summary: Criteria: "Take your favorite couple and write about them ten years from when we last saw them..." Kerry and Kim, 2010/2011
1. April

**MFC#8**  
**Criteria:** Take your favorite couple and write about them ten years from when we last saw them.  
**Length:** Any  
**Challenger:** Wolvie

**A/N:** Kerry and Kim 10 years after Season 7…they are together and have been since. In other words, all the crap that they went through never happened and they've been a couple ever since. The story is canon up until season 13 _(i.e. Kerry's surgery, Luka and Abby having Joe, Gallant, Romano and Mark Greene are dead, Carter is in Africa, Elizabeth is wherever, Luka is chief etc.)_ except Sandy Lopez wasn't working the night of that huge thunderstorm/ambulance crash and Kerry never stole Morris' 15 minutes of fame and in result, she never met Courtney nor did she work for the TV station. Also, everyone has progressed and aged accordingly_ (i.e. Abby, Neela and Ray are all attendings)_ but EVERYTHING after, say, "Bloodline" NEVER happened _(i.e. Kerry is still Chief of Staff, Luka is still Chief of the ER and the whole mess with Abby and Luka in S14 never happened)._ Phew, I'm sorry-- that is a lot to keep in mind. Anyway, hope you enjoy…

* * *

**2010 **

"Madeline Grace Legaspi-Weaver, come down here right now!" Kerry yelled from the foot of the stairs, a stern expression spread across her face and a whimpering four year old on her hip. She had been working in her study when Emma had come in, her blue eyes rimmed bright red, nose running and hot tears running down her face. No more than three Mississippi's after she'd called for her daughter, the lanky strawberry-blonde, green-eyed seven year old turned up at the top of the stairs, a look of pure guilt strewn across her face. Tentatively, she walked down the stairs until she was in front of her mother and little sister.

"What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?" Kerry had altered her infamous 'chief-voice' to use on her two daughters. Receiving only an attempt at an innocent face from Madeline, she lowered her voice and looked her in the eyes,

"Madeline, what did you do to Emma?" Kerry knew the answer, but was curious as to whether or not the seven year old would own up to it. Madeline looked at her feet and played with the hem of her black, long sleeved shirt.

"I…She was bothering me and coloring in _my_ coloring book and so I took the crayon from her." Kerry sighed,

"Did you ask her to stop before you took it away?" Madeline began to nod, then reconsidered and took a more truthful route,

"No…I…she was just annoying me, mom!" She complained.

"Madi, that does not mean you can snatch something away from her. You can ask her politely to stop, then, if she doesn't, you can come find me. But we don't steal things from each other. Okay?" Kerry's tone had softened and she was responded to with a nod. "And Emma, you need to color in your own coloring book unless Madi wants to share with you, okay?" Emma, whose sniffling had subsided, nodded.

Kerry nodded to both girls, set Emma back down, had them apologize to one another, and retreated back to her office. Sitting back behind her desk, Kerry continued to look over the paperwork she had brought home from the hospital the day before; a document that needed revising for the upcoming budget meeting with OB/GYN.

No more than an hour—an undisturbed hour—Kerry signed the bottom of the freshly printed document and put it in her bag. She took off her reading glasses, checked the clock on the bottom of her laptop's screen—4:45—then shut it down and left her office.

The first floor of the house was completely quiet and Kerry figured the two girls had either succeeded in tieing each other up—though she figured she would have heard one of their yelps—or were, by some miracle, getting along. Kerry climbed the stairs, walked down the carpeted hall, and peeked into Emma's room; empty. She continued walking until she came upon Madi's room. Looking through the cracked door, she smiled to herself when she saw the two girls sprawled out on the floor both coloring in their respected coloring books.

"Hey girls…Mom will be home in about…" Kerry checked her watch, "fifteen or twenty minutes. We're going to eat a little early tonight then we're going to go to the movies...alright?" The two girls looked up and nodded silently before going back to coloring with great haste. Kerry let herself out then headed back downstairs to heat up the dinner she had prepared earlier that day.

*****

Kim shielded herself from the pouring rain with her leather messenger back as she sprinted from where she parked her car in the driveway to the front door of the house. She let herself in quickly then shed her jacket and attempted to shake the wetness from her hair.

"Well, that's an interesting method of drying off," Kim looked up when she heard Kerry's voice. Smiling, she responded,

"It's raining like crazy out there!" Kerry nodded, planted a quick peck on Kim's lips then took the wet coat in her hands. She walked towards the kitchen, Kim on her heels,

"How was your day?" Kerry hanged Kim's coat on the back of an open chair in hopes it would dry then turned back to face the blonde, waiting for a response.

"Long…I spent half of it in the ER for consults…it was o.k., though. What about you? How were the girls?"

Kerry went on to tell Kim how their daughters were—apart from their slight run-in over the coloring book—fine.

"Well, that's always good...you know, that they only bickered a little bit..." Kim smiled, "I half-expected you to take them out or something forsake of your own sanity." Kerry smiled back to Kim and nodded,

"I was about to take them to get groceries— just to get them out of the house— but I had to finish a few things leftover from yesterday...." Kim shook her head disaprovingly, and moved to place her hands over Kerry's

"Why don't you just leave work at work?" Kerry only shrugged before turning to the counter to get dishes out for the table,

"Let's just call it homework."

*****

The rain had, thankfully, let up and it was barely sprinkling by the time the movie had ended. Walking across the parking lot, Kerry held Kim's hand in her left and Emma's in her right, while Kim held Madi's in her left.

"Mommy?" Emma tugged on Kerry's hand, "why did that man say mean things when we walked out of the theatre?" She was speaking of the 'ignorant asshole' — as Kerry had called him under her breath— who had so-rudely called the four of them a few names neither Kerry nor Kim wanted their daughters to ever hear again. Kerry looked at Kim, who only gave her a half-frown, then hoisted Emma onto her hip.

"Because, Em, that man is very, very rude. He thinks that it's wrong that you and Madi have two mommies." Kerry hoped that'd be enough of an answer to her daughters questions; she knew that it would be a situation that would be sure to arise multiple times in the future. Thankfully, Emma nodded in understanding. Kim let out a slight sigh and squeezed Kerry's hand a little tighter.

* * *

**A/N:** Just incase you're wondering and didn't catch the subtle hints I dropped...Kerry carried Madeline and Kim carried Emma...I couldn't not have a cute, little red head! Haha. Thanks, as always, for reading! I'm probably going to continue this...it just may come in sporadic updates :)


	2. May

**A/N:** Just another one of those 'Day in the Life' chapters...Oh, and I figured I'd mention 1) Kim doesn't work at County...2) The last chapter took place in April

* * *

**May**

The sunlight was leaking in through the sheer curtains as Kerry woke up. She rolled over and checked the clock; it was 8:30 and Kerry hadn't heard a single sound coming from anywhere in the house, which, on any other Saturday, was unheard of. Both she and Kim had the day off and, being more of the early riser, Kerry had expected to wake up to a head of blonde curls next to her. Instead, she  
found only a slightly-indented pillow. Grabbing her glasses, she slid out of bed, threw on a pair of sweatpants and a tee-shirt, and made her way downstairs.

From the living room, which was completely deserted, Kerry could hear the vocals of Jack Johnson- the girls' favorite musician- streaming softly from the stereo in the kitchen. Stepping through the archway, Kerry smiled at the sight; Madi and Emma both stood on chairs at the counter on either side of Kim, all three singing along to the music. They were making some sort of food, and, they were evidently enjoying themselves. Going unnoticed, Kerry walked up behind the three and slipped her arms around Kim's waist.

Kim, who had been writing the 'Y' in 'Kerry' in green frosting on the cake in front of her, jumped at the unexpected contact while Kerry, who had expected to find eggs or pancake batter in front of Kim, was shocked to find a cake reading 'Happy Birthday, Kerry' in front of Kim.

"Kim…" she said warningly. Ever since she was about thirty, Kerry absolutely despised the idea of celebrating her own birthday; she didn't understand how people found particular joy in celebrating the fact that they were a year older.

"We'll be right back, girls…" Kim didn't try to shield Kerry's line of vision, instead only turned around and pulled Kerry away from the counter. Kim took Kerry by then hand and led her out into the hallway. "They wanted to do something for you…What was I going to tell them? No?" Kerry cocked her head to the side and gave Kim a skeptical look. "Oh, come on, Kerry…a little cake isn't going to kill anyone…besides, it isn't like we're having a big party or anything…" Kim smiled, attempting to convince her wife.

"Fine, fine…" Kerry rolled her eyes. Kim, allowing her inner-child escape, let her smile grow larger and leaned into Kerry.

"Thank you..." she placed her lips lightly on Kerry's before continuing, "It's chocolate, but I'm not sure how edible…" Kerry couldn't help but smile at the last comment; no matter how hard she had tried over the past ten years, her cooking and baking skills had barely rubbed of onto Kim. Taking Kerry's hand, Kim led her back into the kitchen.

"Mommy! It was supposed to be a surprise…you weren't supposed to see it!" Emma, who was now standing at Kerry's feet, wore a frown on her face as her shoulders dropped in some sort of defeat. Kerry gave her daughter a smile and crouched down so they were eye level.

"That's alright, Em;" Kerry placed her hands on the four year olds shoulders, "I don't really like surprises." The little girl's face brightened and she wrapped her arms around Kerry's neck,

"Happy birthday, Mommy!" Kerry smiled and lifted her off the ground just in time for Madi to come up and wrap her arms around Kerry's waist,

"Yeah, happy birthday!" Kerry, keeping one hand under Emma, put another on the back of Madeline's head.

"Thank you, girls…" she said, "but how about we make some breakfast?" Kerry was replied to with two eager nods and unlatched herself from her daughters. Heading for the fridge, Kerry was about to grab the carton of eggs when Kim stepped in,

"Wait, wait, wait…" she held up her hands, "isn't it _your _birthday?" she asked, referring to the idea that Kerry should allow Kim to make breakfast instead. Kerry nodded as she continued to pull multiple ingredients out of the fridge,

"Mhm…but I think it might be a more enjoyable one if we don't all end up with food poisoning…" She winked and received a playfully pissed-off look from Kim.

"Okay…but don't say I didn't offer!" Kerry smiled again,

"I won't. Now, you three go find something to do! Breakfast will be ready in fifteen or twenty." She made a shooing gesture with her hands and the three headed out into the living room, giggling. Once they had disapeared into the living room, Kerry turned back to the counter to face the cake; it was a small circle, covered in chocolate frosting with light green writing on it. _At least she didn't put my age on it,_ Kerry shook her head. Carefully picking up the plate, she put it in the fridge and went on to make breakfst for her family.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks to the inch and a half of snow per hour that's been falling outside my window for the past five or so hours, I had a chance to pull this chapter together. I'm not sure when my next one will be...especially because I don't have any idea what I should write about. So, if you have any ideas, feel free to PM or leave a review. Thanks :)


	3. June

**JUNE**

Kerry walked into the barely-lit backyard, two glasses of wine in hand. She smiled at the surroundings; she hadn't had a real backyard since she lived in Africa. She and Kim had, after Kim became pregnant with Emma, decided they wanted their children to have a big enough backyard to be able to run around in. That, and the fact that the lease on their townhouse was up for renewal, was what prompted them to invest in an actual house of their own; a two floor, four bedroom, two and a half bathroom cape with a generously sized backyard. Approaching the white wooden lounge chairs she was headed for, Kerry handed one of the wine glasses she held in her hand to Kim, who had Madeline on her lap, and set the other one on the flat surface of the table to her right. Picking Emma up from the seat she had previously been occupying, she sat down and settled the four year old back on her lap.

"Mommy?" Emma turned to face Kim, "Why are we watching the sun?"

"Because, Em, it's going to be really pretty when it goes down…" It had been Kerry's idea to sit out and watch the sun set that night, and even though Kim didn't quite appreciate the beauty and sentimentality of it as Kerry did, she was happy enough to enjoy the sight with the three people who made her happiest, "and your mom really likes it." Kim smiled, tiling her head towards Kerry. Emma turned back to her mother,

"Mommy, why do you like it so much?" Kerry cocked her head in consideration. Snuggling the little girl closer, she began to reply,

"Well, do you remember how mommy and I have told you that when I was your and Madi's age I lived in Africa with my parents?" Emma nodded, "Well, one of my favorite things in Africa was the sunset. It was always so beautiful; bright oranges and reds and pinks would fill the sky at night and my parents and I would sit out in our backyard at night and watch it go down all the time…especially in the summer. Then, when I was 12, we moved back to the United States and the thing I missed most about Africa - besides my friends, of course -was the sunset." Kerry's voice had softened as her story continued to flow from her mouth; not quite somber but more than reminiscent. Emma leaned her head against Kerry's chest where the v-neck of her thin cotton shirt revealed pale, freckled skin.

"Have you gone back?" Madi chimed in from where she lounged on Kim's lap. Kerry smiled regretfully and shook her head,

"I haven't been back since…" she looked up, counting the years in her head, "since I graduated from medical school; I went back for a few weeks and visited my old friends." Madi nodded slightly and Kim realized neither one of their daughter's probably had a clue exactly how long of a time their mother was talking about,

"That was about…twenty five years ago." She added matter-of-factly. At that, Emma's jaw dropped in the four-year old's signature over-exageration.

"Wow! Mommy, that's a really long time!" Her observation, though of great simplicity, made Kerry smile. She, just as Madi had, nodded.

"Do you miss it?" Emma, her inner-Kim coming through, probed, breaking Kerry down- whether the young girl realized it or not. Kerry looked her daughter in the eyes meticulously and nodded slowly.

"All the time…" She said, her voice catching and softening as the beginnings of a lump formed in the back of her throat; Kerry had a bad habit of getting her own hopes up to make a visit to the beloved land of her childhood without ever being able to follow-through; she would always get through the initial step of planning out dates, but when she'd go ahead and try to take time off, something always seemed to come up. Kim was perceptive to her wife's change in emotion and took her hand.

"Hey! Look girls, the sun's just about ready to go to sleep…" Kim redirected the girls' attention before looking at Kerry, whose eyes were bluing in color as they moistened. Giving Kerry a comforting smile and her hand a reassuring squeeze, she refocused her attention to the sun as it went lower and lower into the orange horizon.

*****

"Well hello there," Kim smiled, coming into their bedroom from hall. Kerry, who was already in bed, looked up and smiled.

"Are they both asleep?" she pulled back the comforter on Kim's side of the bed and turned over to face the woman who was now climbing in next to her.

"Mhm…Emma kept asking me about Africa, though." Kim's statement caught Kerry off guard while the nonchalant tone of her voice caused a confused expression to spread across her voice; Kim, though Kerry knew she wanted to, had never been to Africa. Raising her eyebrow, Kerry questioned what Kim meant.

"Oh, you know…she wanted to hear stories, wanted to know what it was like, wanted to know when we're going- I told her soon, of course-, wanted to know what you did there-" Kim went on until the words she'd said registered in Kerry's mind.

"Wait! When we're going? Kim.." Kerry's confusion brought a smile to Kim's face,

"Yeah, you know…_going_; as in going for a visit?" Kerry shut her eyes and shook her head,

"No no no, I know what you mean. But when _we're_ going?" She placed emphasis on the 'we're'.

"Yeah of course…I mean, it wouldn't be very fair for me- or our bank account- to take the four tickets from O'Hare to London and London to Nairobi that I booked for late next month and go all by on my own- leaving the other three to waste away- now would it?" Kim finished. Kerry, whose facial expression had gone from sheer perplexity to pure shock in .5 seconds, allowed her hand to flutter over her mouth.

"But- wh-what? Kim, what are- what-" The loss of ability to conjunct words into sentences was something that Kerry, unfortunately, suffered from in times of bewilderment. Kim only continued to smile broadly,

"Yep…July 9th through 17th…I planned it last month right around your birthday...I wasn't going to tell you until later this month, but after tonight, I couldn't resist." Kim explained, "You, me, Madi and Emma......I'm taking vacation that week and I already talked to Don…he said he'd be more than happy to cover for you." At that point, Kerry was sitting upright facing Kim who was sitting cross-legged in front of her. Shifting, she took the glowing face in her hands and locked her lips tightly against the Kim's. After a few moments- how long exactly, neither cared- Kerry pulled back, her face moist with salty tears. Kim giggled,

"Those are tears of happiness, I hope…" Kerry laughed through her tears and nodded,

"Definitely tears of happiness." Kim's thin fingers brushed the skin under her eyes, "Thank you, Kim…thank you so, so much." Kim nodded,

"Anything for you," then slid into bed, pulling Kerry with her.

Both the emotions and the generous amount of earlier-consumed wine sent them both into a deep sleep, arms and legs tangled and intertwined.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you enjoy this just as much as I enjoy writing it. Thanks for reading :)


	4. July

**JULY**

"Hey, Kerry!" Kerry turned back towards the stairway of the El when she heard the familiar voice calling her name. Abby was coming up behind her from the platform, a surprised and equally as warm smile spread across her face,

"Abby, hi!" Kerry stopped, waiting for Abby to catch up. When Abby did, they enveloped each other in a friendly hug, exchanging another set of quick hellos. Pulling away, they continued to walk towards the ER as they conversed,

"It feels like it's been weeks…did you have a good time?" Kerry smiled,

"Was Don that bad?" Kerry winked then nodded, "It was amazing…the girls loved it…You know, I've told them stories and all, but for them to actually be able to see it and be there was great. I was so pleased to be able to catch up with an old friend of mine; Mlungisi…he and I grew up together, but I hadn't seen him in about sixteen years…" a bit of a solemn look crept across her features as their most recent goodbye replayed, still fresh in her mind. Shaking it away, she continued as the two walked through the ambulance bay. "It was really, very great." She finished, figuring the anecdotes would hold until she had the pictures to go along with them. Abby nodded,

"I'm glad." The two women entered the ER together before parting ways, Kerry promising to bring pictures later that week at Abby's request.

Kerry, hoping to avoid getting pulled into any discussion of paperwork, hopped on the elevator and rode up to the fifth floor.

"Hey Dr. Weaver! How was Africa?" Her assistant, Jake, asked her as she rounded the corner of the wide corridor that led to her office.

"Uh…hot…" She smiled at the younger man, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder before holding out her hand for the pile of messages Jake was gathering from his desk. "But good…Has Dr. Anspaugh been in today?" Jake shook his head and handed her the small stack,

"No…he said he figured you probably wanted him out when you got back," the assistant winked.

"I see…" she grinned, "well, I'm going to go see what he's done to my poor office…" she raised her eyebrows in confirmation of the unsaid fact that she wanted Jake to, if someone were to call or come up, not hesitate in buzzing her; she knew she'd have a good bit of damage control to do as Don wasn't a particularly organized man.

The assistant nodded again as Kerry pushed through the heavy wooden door and entered her sanctuary- the overheated office she'd grown to call her own for the past eight or so years. Stalking across the room, she set down her bag and surveyed her desk; it was, as she'd left it, perfectly neat and organized- pictures of her daughters and Kim in their rightful place, calendar filled out to date, and stacks of paper neatly organized; Don had, evidently, taken good care of her space.

Sitting down in the oversized leather chair, Kerry leaned back and shut her eyes; though they'd arrived home two days earlier, the jet lag still hadn't subsided; despite the fact that it was about twelve in the afternoon, her mental and physical clocks were telling her that it was about time for her to go to bed, and the fact that she'd been up since five that morning certainly wasn't helping her out. Kerry ignored her tiredness and began sorting through the papers on her desk in attempt to make sense of all that she'd missed.

*****

"Kerry, you out of here for the night?" Luka said, walking towards the office door Kerry was shutting and locking.

"Yeah…did you need something?" Kerry sincerely hoped not; though she'd only worked from twelve to six, she was about ready to collapse in bed. Luka shook his head slightly, wringing his hands uncomfortably,

"Ah…I got a call today- from my sister-in-law in Croatia- my brother was, um, killed a couple days ago…" he spoke gravely, deriving a slight, soft gasp from Kerry,

"Oh my…Luka, I'm so sorry," she placed her hand gently at the crook of his now-crossed arms. He continued,

"Thanks, Kerry…but, I need to head out there…she's alone and needs some help…and I know you just got back…but I need someone to cover the ER for a couple weeks...and Abby and Joe are coming with me, so…we'll be down to attendings…." His sentence trailed off, his voice- though faltering a bit- hopeful and questioning. Kerry was quick to nod her head,

"Yeah, yeah of course…when are you leaving?" she was hoping that she'd have at least a few more days to recover before jumping back in to full shifts. Luka frowned lopsidedly.

"Ah…the day after tomorrow." That hadn't been the amount of time Kerry had been hoping to have.

"Okay…" she gave Luka a sympathetic smile, "I'm really sorry, Luka…" she placed her hand back on Luka's arm and gave it a squeeze, "take as much time as you need."

Luka nodded in thanks. The two shared their goodbyes- agreeing to talk the next day to get everything in order- and parted; one heading back to the ER by stairs while the other road the elevator to the front entrance of the hospital.

*****

"How was your first day back?" Kim asked, handing Kerry a couple plates from the dish rack to put away. It was nearly nine o'clock and the girls had just been tucked in; it was the first one on one time they'd shared all day.

"I don't think six hours have felt so long…" she sighed, "and Luka and Abby have to go to Croatia…so I'll be back in the ER for a couple weeks." Kim raised an eyebrow,

"Second honeymoon, maybe?" she teased; she had always found humor in the fact that the couple had never had a propper honeymoon.

"Funeral, actually." Both her own exhaustion and Kim's presumptuous humor- something that normally wouldn't have bothered her- cut Kerry's circuit short.

"Oh…" Kim took note of Kerry's snippiness and chose to accept it- she knew Kerry had wicked jet lag, and having only had two days to recover from the crossing of multiple time zones hadn't cured it- "when are they leaving?"

"Wednesday." Kerry held out her left hand for the clean glass Kim held.

"Damn."

"Mhmm…" Shutting the cupboard door, Kerry leaned back against the counter and rubbed her eyes. Kim noticed her lover's drained expression and body language and became a bit annoyed- Africa was supposed to have been- at least in part -a vacation- something to escape the stress- but, as soon as they returned stateside, it seemed as if Kerry jumped right back into the busyness- willingly or not. Kim walked over to Kerry, whose eyes were still shut, and silently wrapped her arms around the smaller figure. Kerry complied with the contact and delved her head into Kim's collar bone, sighing. Kim felt the heaviness of Kerry's fatigued body and held her tighter,

"Well, it was good while it lasted…" she spoke – more of her thoughts than the conversation- into the red hair, deriving only a subtle 'mhm'. Kim gently pulled away from Kerry and took her by the hand, "Alright…let's go to bed." Kim offered more for Kerry's benefit than her own; she had the rest of the week off and, unlike Kerry, had slept in.

Kim led Kerry up the stairs and into their bedroom, where the already half-asleep woman silently exchanged her clothing- khaki pants and a pink button down- for pajamas and slipped into bed. Kim giggled internally at her zombie-like movements and placed her hand on Kerry's shoulder,

"Ker…aren't you going to take out your contacts?" Kerry only shook her head and dug deeper into the sheets. Kim nodded to herself then kissed Kerry lightly on the forehead. Kim tip-toed out of their bedroom, got ready in the bathroom as to not disturb Kerry- though she figured, at that point, she would sleep through anything- then returned to go to bed herself. Sliding in, she hovered over Kerry for a second to see whether or not she was out; she was; her breathing was even and deep and her eyes were heavily lidded. Kim- again- kissed Kerry gently and pulled the sheets up to her chin before she tucked herself in for the night.

Africa had been the most amazing of vacations, but, in Kim's oppinion, had done a good job at kicking both their asses- she had the sunburn of all suburns and Kerry, evidentally, had one hell of a case of jet-lag. She still, however, had no idea as to how neither of their daughter's had come back to the states without either of those symptoms; their skin was still a healthy glow- though Madi had a fresh sprinkle of freckles across her cheeks- and neither had a hard time waking up at seven- as they had, apparently, made Kerry well aware of that morning- nor going to bed at eight. Laying on her back, Kim allowed her train of thought to slow down then drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N:** I think Luka and Abby ever had a real honeymoon, but I kind of didn't watch season 14, so I really have no idea. Please review and thanks for reading.


	5. August

**August**

Kim leaned against the railing of the front porch, took a second to catch her breath, and checked her watch; five miles in forty one minutes and five seconds. Smiling in success, she took a few more deep breaths before going up the steps and into the house.

A burst of refreshing central air hit her face as she escaped the thick, mid-morning heat and she slipped off her sneakers, heading for kitchen. Kim grabbed a glass, poured herself a healthy amount of ice water, then wandered toward the office.

Kerry was working from home that day- she wasn't covering for Luka or Abby for the first time in two weeks and, luckily, didn't have any meetings-, the girls were with Kim's parents for the day and she had it off; it was peaceful and quiet- albeit the soft sounds of Sixpence None The Richer were quietly flowing through the stereo system- in the Legaspi-Weaver household and no one had any reason to complain about the rarity.

Kim came upon the study and knocked inaudibly on the half-closed door before pushing it open. Having apparently gone unnoticed, she leaned against the frame of the doorway and smiled at the sight; Kerry looked adorable. Her red hair was unwashed and pulled back out of her face in a loose pony tail and her thick, black glasses were still on, she was wearing a thin, ill-fitting cotton v-neck tee shirt and was bent over her desk, working hard on what Kim assumed to be one of the multiple budgeting proposals she had to go over.

Kim continued to watch for a few more moments, took a noiseless sip of water, then spoke up,

"You know…you look adorable when you're hard at work." Her smile grew as Kerry jumped a bit at the sudden verbalization. She recovered quickly, then grinned, her eyes running up and down Kim's body

"And you look adorable after you run…" Kim raised an eyebrow skeptically then looked down at herself; she was wearing a pair of Northwestern-purple Nike running shorts, an old tee shirt from her alma mater, and her hair was in a bun, kept out of her face via elastic headband. Looking back up to Kerry, who had risen from her chair and moved around the desk, it clicked. She smiled slyly; Kim had a feeling Kerry was talking about more than her attire.

Kim stepped into the office from under the archway and moved up to the desk slowly until her face was eight or so inches from Kerry's,

"Do I?" she stepped closer, closing the gap to a mere four inches, and placed her glass on the desk behind Kerry.

"Mhm..." Kerry mumbled and inhaled as Kim got closer. She raised her hands, looking at Kim with an equally-as-mischievous expression, and cupped the thin face in front of her, drawing it in parallel to her own. She pushed off the desk, pulled Kim's face lower towards her own, and ran her lips lightly upward, from chin to cheek.

Kim warmed at the sensation then turned her head slightly, allowing her lips to make contact with Kerry's. At first, the contact was bare; their lips hardly touching- only a miniscule amount of breath shared between the two. Then Kerry pressed harder, pushing her lips more firmly against Kim's hungrily. Kim complied easily, her lips parting in time with Kerry's, inhaling her breath, exploring the familiar depths the other's mouth with her tongue. Yearning for more contact, Kerry dropped her hands from the soft skin of Kim's face and allowed them to wander down her back, settling where her shorts' waistband met the sharp edge of her Ilium. Kim's hands traveled as well, tracing the curve of Kerry's hips before settling in the back pockets of her loose fitting, linen pants.

Kerry allowed the tiniest of sounds to escape her throat as she felt Kim's hands supporting her, then pulled her lips away, her face slightly flushed. Kim, slipping her hands from the pockets, took Kerry's hand in her own, pulling her from the office,

"…shower?" Kerry nodded, following Kim down the hall toward the stairs.

*****

Kerry, her senses slowly equilibrating, poked her head out of the shower in hopes to catch her breath.

"Is it just me or is it really, really stuffy in here?" she said in between breaths, head still out in the slightly cooler air. Kim laughed quietly, pulling Kerry back in the shower,

"It's us."

Kerry smiled half-heartedly, shook her head, then wiggled out of Kim's loose embrace,

"Cute. But really, Kim…it's too hot in here…like a sauna for God's sake. How can you breathe?" Her voice was strained and compressed.

"My grandparents had one when I was growing up." Kim answered easily, turning her face into the stream of hot water. Kerry gave her an odd look, apparently not knowing what Kim was talking about. "A sauna, Kerry." She smiled, amused by Kerry's perplexity.

"Right…well, mine didn't…" she said, her breathing still uneven, "and I need to get out of here before I pass out." Kerry slid the glass door open once more, but this time stepped out completely.

"You sound like you just ran a marathon, you lightweight." Kim teased from behind the glass. Kerry headed straight for the lone window in the bathroom, which she proceeded to open. She gave a cynical laugh and turned back toward the center of the bathroom,

"I feel like it, too…" Kerry wiped the fogged mirror with a hand towel as Kim turned off the shower. Stepping out, she admired the small body that stood in front of her. Kerry, who'd been at the counter top, caught Kim's wandering eyes when she looked back into the mirror. Kerry smiled slightly, then went back to what she was doing, leaving Kim's mind to whatever was running through it.

Kim sighed internally; she really, sincerely hoped forty seven would look as good on her as it looked on Kerry. Tracing the soft, supple curves of Kerry's body with her eyes, Kim grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her own chest.

"I pray to God that I look as young as you when I'm your age..." Kim thought aloud, moving to stand at the other sink…"actually, I hope I can do a few other things as well as you…" she teased.

"You know…I'm not that much older than you…" Kerry retorted, ignoring the evident compliment. Kim turned her head towards Kerry,

"I know you're not, seven years isn't much at all…it doesn't matter anyway…" she leaned against the counter so she was facing Kerry completely, "I would be in love with you even if you were sixty six years old."

"Is that so?" Kerry mocked as she popped in her left contact.

"Mhm.." Kim slid over, wedging herself in between the counter and Kerry. "And I _will _love you when you're sixty six. And seventy six. And eighty six. I'm going to love you forever, Ker." She finished, placing her lips lightly on Kerry's.

Kerry pulled away to look into Kim's eyes, "I love you too", then returned the favor.

* * *

**A/N:** Kerry's 47, Kim is 39 (she'll turn 40 in an upcoming chapter, probably)..just incase that wasn't evident :)


	6. September

**September**

"Mommy…" Emma came up to her mother, the slightest look of distress etched into her face. "I'm nervous…" Kim, who was lying in bed reading the The American Journal of Psychiatry, patted the mattress next to her and set the journal on her lap, gesturing for the five year old to join her. Emma easily climbed onto the queen bed and sat on the left side of Kim, her head propped up somewhere between Kim's breast and shoulder.

"Why are you nervous, Em?" Emma shrugged, "Because of school…?" It was a Friday night and the first week of school had just reached completion. Madi was entering the second grade while Emma, who had just recently celebrated her fifth birthday, was entering kindergarten.

Emma wordlessly nodded her head.

"What about it, sweetie?" Kim's lean fingers ran through the long, thin hair.

"I have two mommies. Everyone else has a mommy and daddy and when we drew pictures of our family today, everyone thought it was weird. They laughed when I told them I have two mommies. They said it was impossible." The young girl's shoulders rose as she sighed deeply. Kim, too, sighed. Madi had gone through the same thing when she was starting first grade -though Kerry had handled the explanation that time- and both girls had periodically questioned or observed the fact that their family was different, but Kim hadn't expected it to become a subject of discussion with a kindergartener. Hell, she didn't even know kindergarteners realized stuff like that. Kim continued to play with the straggly, blonde hair and took a deep breath,

"Well, Emma, do you think it's weird that you have two mommies?" Kim was attempting to take the psychiatrist out of her explanation. Emma shook her head,

"No. You love mommy and mommy loves you." One of the many things Kim loved most about that age was the simplicity of it all. She smiled.

"Right…do you think it's weird that some people have a mommy and a daddy, or two daddies?" Emma shook her head again.

"Good...because it's not odd. Everyone has a different family; some people have a mommy and daddy, some people have two daddies, and some people have only one mommy or one daddy. But all that matters is that a family loves each other." Emma turned from where she was sitting and looked her mother in the eye.

"But why do they think it's weird if it's not?" Kim realized she'd unintentionally beaten around the bush,

"Right…well, it's probably because a lot of kids have a mommy and daddy…a lot of them don't realize that it's O.K. to have two mommies. And sometimes, people don't like that mommy and I are in love. A lot of people don't think its right." Kim stopped herself from delving into the details of gay rights and the utter ignorance of homophobes; she didn't want to overwhelm the poor girl. "But it is O.K. " Emma nodded,

"I know it's okay. It's okay because you and mommy love and take care of me and Madi." then resumed her previous position. "…but what do I tell them when they make fun of me? Or laugh?" Kim smiled,

"Well…what do you think is one of the best things about having two mommies?" Kim wanted her to draw one or two of her own conclusions before she gave her a sure-fire explanation. Emma whipped her head around and lit up,

"I like that I have two mommies all the time! Especially when I get hurt or sick, because you both make me feel better!" Kim smiled, _or maybe it's because we're both doctors... _"And I think it's funny that we are all girls! You, mommy, me and Madi! We're all girls!" Her smile was broad and accomplished. Kim smiled, nodded and tickled Emma's belly, deriving a stream of giggles from the five year old.

"Yep…you can tell them all that! Or, you could tell them mommy and I fell in love just like their parents did." Kim smiled sentimentally, remembering the first time she realized she loved Kerry. Pushing the thought back- saving it for later, rather- Kim looked for a response from her daughter.

"Okay." she seemed much more at ease.

"Does that make you feel better?" Emma nodded just as a new voice came from the door.

"Emma? Are you ready for your bath? Madi is waiting for you…" Kerry stood at the doorway, arms folded over her blouse-clad chest. Emma nodded again- though this time much more eagerly-, jumped off the bed, and darted for the bathroom. Kerry laughed slightly, "I guess that's a yes…" She looked at Kim and realized how the two had been sitting- obivously conversing, "Is everything O.K.?"

Kim nodded,

"Yeah…she was just telling me about some of the kids in her class; when they realized that she has two mommies, they thought it was 'weird'" Kim raised her left hand, making quotation marks in the air around the word that was oh-so popular within their daughters' age group. "So we just talked about it…I think it's O.K., though…at least for now."

Kerry tilted her head slightly towards the left,

"Since when do five year olds have opinions about the gay lifestyle? I didn't even know what gay meant when I was five…" Kim laughed aloud.

"Ker, you lived in Kenya when you were five. It wasn't exactly the most common of thing..." Kerry smirked. Kim was about to add another comment when a stripped down Emma came trotting back in, stopping where Kerry stood,

"Mommy! Madi and I are ready but we can't get in 'till you're there!" Her tone was overdramatic as she huffed back off towards the bathroom. Kerry rolled her eyes, though a smile was evident,

"Miss drama calls…" Kerry turned out of the doorway and headed for the bathroom. From a slowly-lengthening distance, Kim could hear Kerry talking to their daughters,

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" The bathroom door opened and closed.

She smiled, picked her journal back up, and began to re-read a new article on PTSD.


	7. October

**OCTOBER**

"TRICK OR TREAT!" Emma skipped down the stairs, the train of her long, yellow princess dress trailing behind her. Her thin hair was pulled into a tight braid and, much to Kerry's dismay, she had a touch of mascara and eye shadow on.

Upon hearing her youngest daughter's raspy voice, Kerry turned from where she sat in the living room and laughed,

"You, my darling, look absolutely ravishing…" she chanted in her best faux British accent.

Emma blushed and smiled coyly.

Kerry stood and met her daughter half-way across the living room.

"Where are your mother and sister?" She reached out and straightened the silver tiara on Emma's head.

"They are coming. Mommy did my braid then helped Madi." Emma spun around, showing off the lengthy French braid running down from the crown of her head to the small of her back.

Kerry shuddered slightly, though a smile was visible,

"Emma, Emma, Emma…are you ever going to want to get your hair cut?" she toyed with the young girl's braid, twisting it gently between her fingers. Though Emma had inherited many of Kim's features, there were two traits she lacked; Kim's curls and Kim's height. For the latter, Kim said the little girl would, eventually, be thankful.

Emma shook her head,

"No way José! I don't want short hair like Madi!" She spoke disgustedly of the shoulder-length cut Madeline sported; a cut that was much like Kerry's own. Kerry smirked at the blunt comment just as she heard footsteps on the stairs.

"..We'll talk about this later." She placed her hand on Emma's shoulder in passing then kept going toward the stairwell. Madi wore baseball pants, a Cubs tee shirt and hat, and socks, all coordinated towards the Cubs' red, blue and white color scheme. Her red hair was parted into two, short braids on either side of her face and her worn-out softball glove was worn naturally on her left hand.

"Mommy, my cleats don't fit!" She whined to Kerry, pointing towards the white sneakers she wore on her feet. Kim, who was descending the stairs behind her daughter, shook her head and spoke as if she'd already said it a hundred times, which Kerry figured wasn't entirely possible,

"We'll get you new cleats in the spring, Madi, I promise." Kerry cut in, attempting to help the situation,

"Besides, I didn't notice the difference until you pointed it out!" Madi scowled,

"Mommy, that's because you don't even like softball…" Kerry winced at Madi's brusqueness, considered calling her out on it, but stopped herself; it was Halloween and she wasn't about to walk around her neighborhood with a cranky seven year old.

"Madi, you look fine…besides, I'm sure you'll be much more comfortable walking around in sneakers." She smiled persuasively, dropping the subject.

Kim, now standing alongside Kerry, Emma and Madi at the base of the stairs, slipped into her sneakers and put her hand on the door knob,

"Where to first, girlies?"

*****

"You do know we're going to have to give them their candy in rations, right?" Kerry stood at the bathroom mirror, toothbrush in one hand, bottle of toothpaste in the other. Kim, who stood at the adjoining sink, laughed sarcastically,

"I'm sure they'll be thrilled." Kerry frowned,

"They will be when they don't have week-long belly aches." Kim smiled and set a hand on Kerry's shoulder,

"I know, Ker…" She stepped to the other side of her, "But, didya' forget about tomorrow?" Kim grabbed a small hand towel and went back to her sink wearing a widely-set grin

Kerry shot her an irritated look, spit the remnants of toothpaste from her mouth, and ran water over her toothbrush,

"How could I have? You keep reminding me…" She placed her toothbrush in its rightful place.

"Hey, Ker, I know you aren't particularly excited…" Kim knew that was a tad of an understatement, "But look at it this way: at least it's too cold to wear plaid shorts!" Her attempt to lighten Kerry's mood wasn't a fail. Kerry smiled and Kim went on, "Besides, it'll be fun!" Kerry's smile turned down and she shook her head, walking out of the bathroom, Kim on her heels,

"For you. Kim, I'm horrible at golf...I don't even get the general idea of it- an eight iron and wedge? What the hell does that mean?" Kim let inaccuracy of Kerry's naming of the clubs go, "You might as well be professional compared to me." She stood on her side of the bed, pulling back the covers.

"Ker, I'm no Karrie Webb." The lesbian LPGA Hall of Famer reference was lost on Kerry, though the simmilarity in name was responded to in the infamous Weaver-head-tilt, "It's just for fun…it doesn't matter if you're good or not." Kim slipped into bed, "Besides…you can just look at it as a date."

Kerry raised her eyebrows and sank into bed as well,

"Fine. But don't expect me to be all happy about it…" Kim rolled over so she was facing Kerry,

"Oh, you'll be happy. _And_, you can even drive the golf cart if you want…" she teased and planted a kiss on Kerry's lips, "only if you're a good girl."

Kerry smirked and took off her glasses,

"We'll see…"

* * *

**A/N:** So, I know November first is a tad cold to go golfing (at least for me it is, but then again I'm a bit of a cold-weather-wimp), but whatever. Illinois is relatively unpredictable weather-wise, right..? maybe..? lol.

Thanks for reading.


	8. November

**November**

The consistent, annoying, high-pitched beeping of the smoke alarm was going off and, even though Kim was supposedly keeping an eye on the turkey, it hadn't stopped. Kerry, who had been getting ready upstairs, hauled ass down the stairs when the distinct scent of smoke wafted all the way to her bedroom.

Yanking open the oven door, she released a huge cloud of thick, black smoke.

"Jesus Christ -" Kim's voice came from the door, barely audible over the beeping and Kerry's coughing, "what the hell happened?" She moved over to the floor under the alarm, reached up on her tippy toes, and smacked it; the beeping ceased.

Kerry coughed more and more until her breath came easily, "I thought you were tending to the turkey?" Kim nodded,

"I was. I had to go downstairs to grab something from the freezer…" Kim moved consciously to the oven, surveying what she could through the shrinking blur of smoke. "Do we still have dinner?" Kerry shrugged,

"I'm almost afraid to check…" she pulled a mitt over her hand and pulled out the turkey, revealing the blackened exterior. Kim stifled a laugh at the sight,

"We could always cut off the skin." Kerry raised an eyebrow skeptically then shrugged her shoulders again,

"I hope the meat's fine…your parents and family won't mind?" At that, Kim let a laugh escape shamelessly,

"You are kidding? You're nervous about what _my_ family will think? Ker, we've had them over for Thanksgiving, what? Six times? It'll be fine." Kim smiled, "Besides, Lori, Jack and their kids are all vegetarians or whatever…" Kerry snorted a laugh and Kim questioned her sudden outburst. Kerry's eyes twinkled.

"…and here I thought that was a lesbian thing." Kim laughed at the mockery as well; she consistently had the stereotype pinned on her, though, if someone really knew her, they'd realize there was no way in hell Kimberly Legaspi would give up her meat.

*****

"Jean, Ray…good to see you." Kerry's smile was genuine as she greeted Kim's parents. The two sixty-something year olds hugged Kerry briefly and stepped into the house.

"Grammy! Grampy!" Emma called loudly as she and Madi came bouncing into the living room. Both grandparents opened their arms just in time for the two girls to attach themselves; Emma to Jean, Madi to Ray.

Kim finished setting the table and went out to join the party that was, according the new voices she heard, forming in the front of the house.

"Hey mom, dad…" she said, engulfing them both into one hug. Jean pulled out first and surveyed the room,

"Lori and Jack aren't here?" Kim shook her head, pulling away from her father,

"Not yet…they called to say they were running late." Her parents slid out of their jackets and hung them on the tree tucked in the corner. Jean stepped out of the nook and took a close look at both  
Emma and Madeline,

"You two look absolutely darling." Emma grinned broadly and spun in a circle, showing off a rainbow of colors that the dress she wore illustrated, while Madi, who was wearing jeans and a sweater from Gap, simply smiled.

Kerry clasped her hands together, making the slightest clapping noise, and spoke up,

"Make yourselves comfortable in the living room…Lori, Jack and the kids shouldn't be too long…" she gestured towards the seating in the living room, "I'm just going to go make sure everything's all set." Ray smiled at Kerry,

"You don't stop, do you?" Kerry grinned sheepishly and headed off to the kitchen. Though she was leaving the room, Kerry could hear Kim,

"No, Dad, she doesn't."

*****

"So, the turkey is a little…" Kerry searched for the correct adjectives,

"- The turkey's pretty burnt." Kim intervened.

"-it got a little…uh…" Kerry was at a loss for words again as she set the plate of cuts of meat on the table.

"-scorched." Kim smiled, setting the two serving bowls she held onto the table.

"Ah…" Jean said, "Well…I'm sure it's great. A little crispiness never hurt anyone, right?" Kerry smiled, nodded, and took her seat. Kim sat down next to Kerry and scanned the room; all five children were sitting in their respected seats, the four adults were now seated, and her parents were patiently waiting. She grinned,

"Alright…who wants to say Grace?" Though she and Kerry didn't quite enforce the religious aspect of saying Grace at every single meal, Kim's parents held Catholicism very close to their hearts. Therefore, it was customary for it to be said- at least on holidays.

Luckily for both Kerry and Kim- who hadn't said a prayer aloud months-, her father cleared his voice, grabbed his wife's hand in his left and Madi's in his right, then began.

*****

Kerry leaned down and made a successful attempt at stuffing another dish in the dishwasher as Kim shoved one more Tupperware container into the fridge. It was pushing eleven o'clock and their Thanksgiving guests had left just a half an hour before. As soon as the last of Kim's family filed out, they'd whisked their two very, very cranky daughters upstairs and tucked them in before starting the job they were just nearly finishing; cleaning up the mess left over from the evening's event. Kerry sighed, the air pushing what little bangs she had upwards.

"Ready for some wine?" Kim smiled, holding two glasses in her left hand and a bottle in her right. Kerry smiled and nodded her head toward the living room.

The two plopped down on the suede couch and Kim re-open the bottle, pouring two healthy servings into each long-stemmed glass. Kerry took a long swig of hers and tilted her head back, eyes closed.

"Do you remember our first Thanksgiving? Together?" she spoke, eyes still lidded. The outer corners of Kim's mouth twitched into a smile.

"Mhm.." She wanted to see what Kerry was going to say.

"When I spilt my wine all over you…and we shut the place down…and-" Kim cut her off slightly,

"-and you were in a fluster about being gay?" They both smiled, though Kim's was of satisfaction and victory whilst Kerry's was of embarrassment as she recalled her pre-self-acceptance days. Kerry nodded, opened her eyes, and turned her head so she was facing Kim,

"Yeah…" she smiled sentimentally, "can you believe that was ten years ago?" Kim shrugged,

"If you're asking me if it feels like we've been together for ten years; it has." Kerry gave her a questioning look,

"Are you saying you're sick of me?" she sipped her wine through a smile. Kim shook her head and giggled,

"Ah, nope…give it a few more years, though." Kerry shot her a look, "Just kidding...it's been a great decade, if I do say so myself, and I feel like I've known you my whole life, while at the same time, I feel like it was just yesterday that we met." The depth of the statement left Kerry in awe; she only stared at Kim, eyes slightly widened. Kim laughed softly once more,

"…I _still _can't believe you didn't even know you were gay." Kerry smiled and shook her head,

"Hey, that was a very- uh…difficult time." Kim nodded,

"I know. But still…I just can't believe…how could you not have realized? Gosh, especially working with- " Kerry swatted her hand against Kim's shoulder,

"Kimberly! You stop right there!" A laugh from deep within Kim exploded as she put a hand up in defense.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" She took a breath, collecting herself, "I just couldn't resist." Kerry shook her head in mock-disappointment,

"I'm not even going to ask who you were talking about." Kim grinned wickedly. Kerry cracked a smile, still shaking her head slightly, and got up from the couch, bringing their now-empty glasses and the half-full bottle of wine back to the kitchen.

Coming back in, Kerry went to the back of the couch, where Kim was still sitting, "Well I" She placed her hand on Kim's shoulder, "am going to bed." She leaned in, placed a kiss on Kim's cheek, and pulled away from the couch. Kim took hold of her hand and stopped her,

"Mind if I join you?" she asked jokingly. Kerry pretended to consider it then shrugged,

"As long as you keep to your side of the bed, Dr. Legaspi." Kerry continued to walk toward the stairs, Kim following,

"Yeesh, now you're calling me _Doctor_ _Legaspi_, huh?" Kerry nodded,

"That's what it says on our mail, isn't it?" Kim laughed quietly.

* * *

**A/N:** I like to consider parts of that my poor attempt at some comedy. Sorry, haha.


	9. December

**December**

"…_You my, brown eyed girl. Do you remember when we used to sing: Sha la la la la la la la la la la te da..."_

Van Morrison's voice filled the first floor of the house, filtering softly through the kitchen and living room especially. Kerry and Madi were in the kitchen, mumbling the catchy lyrics quietly- though in tune- under their breath while they sat at the table, Madi doing homework while Kerry reviewed a few charts.

Kim and Emma, who had been off doing their own thing in the living room, were sneaking in quietly, moving towards Kerry and Madi, whose backs were facing the entrance, with sly smiles on their faces. Kim held out her left hand towards Emma and held out three fingers, then two, then one.

"RAAAAAH!" They both jumped- Emma towards Kerry, Kim towards Madi- and growled in a monster-like manner.

Madi and Kerry, who were diligently working, both let out shrill screams and jumped in their seats, genuinely scared.

"Jeeze!" Kerry said, catching her breath. She pulled off her reading glasses and turned around to face Kim and Emma.

"Did we scare you?" Emma's smile was broad as she looked back and forth, Kerry to Madi. Madi, whose eyes were still bulging from her orbital structures, nodded with a slight laugh.

"Good." Kim smiled, "We were bored…you can only get beat at checkers so many times…" she smiled. Kerry raised an eyebrow disappointedly,

"You beat Emma?" Kim shook her head,

"She beat me." She added a wink. "Five times, actually. So, we figured we'd come in here and see what you two bookworms were up to…" Kim peered over Madi's head, looking onto her homework that was nearly finished.

Kerry nodded and turned her head quickly to her charts then back,

"I'm done with this…" she looked at the work in front of Madi, "What about you, Mads?" Madeline nodded,

"I'm done. And bored." Kim smiled and nodded.

"Good. It's a Friday night and neither of us are working for once…let's go out."She said to Kerry, deriving an excited clap of the hands from Emma and large smile from Madi.

Kerry nodded her head, pushed her chair back, and folded her hands on the table in front of her,

"What do you girls want to do?" It was early-December, surprisingly warm at thirty seven degrees, and the opportunities of family-oriented things to do in Chicago were nearly endless. Kim grinned mischievously,

"I have an idea…"

*****

"Kimberly Anne Legaspi, I am _not _getting on that ice!" Kerry stood outside the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink at their car, shaking her head hastily. Kim turned from where she was standing at the open trunk of the car and stared at Kerry,

"Come on, Ker…it'll be fun!" She looked down at their daughters who were sitting in the hatchback, putting on their skates "Right girls? Tell mommy it'll be fun…" she urged. The girls took Kim's lead  
and began to exuberantly plead with Kerry. Finally, Kerry held up her hands, beckoning silence,

"You girls put your skates on…mommy and I are going to go talk for a second." She raised her eyebrow in silent demand and led Kim to the front of the car,

"I don't appreciate you having our kids beg me." She whispered harshly. Kim hanged her head in thought, then looked up at Kerry.

"Why won't you just try it, Ker?" she looked into her eyes, "You know you can. Physically, you can. You've done it before. And you weren't half bad." Kerry tilted her head to the left, wearing a look of consideration on her face,

"I don't know…" Kim grabbed hold of her skepticism, countering it with confidence.

"You _can_ do it, Ker. It'll be fun!" she placed her hand on Kerry's shoulder, "And, I'll even catch you if you fall." Kerry chuckled,

"Fine, fine, fine." Kerry shrugged in defeat, "But don't expect me to do the same for you…" Kim smiled and nodded. Accomplished, she turned back to the back of their car.

"Mommy, are you going to skate with us?" Madi asked from where she sat, looking at her shorter mother.

"I'm going to try…" she smiled, knowing that her daughters might very well have a better time watching her poor attempt at ice skating than actually ice skating themselves.

"You'll be good, mommy! I was bad before, but then I got much better." Emma added her two cents with a fittingly youthful grin.

*****

"Hey, Kim, what are you doing here?" Abby asked from the Admit desk as Kim walked in, "I didn't think Kerry was on tonight…hey, Madi…" she caught sight of Madeline who was standing at Kim's side, left arm cradled in her right, "Is everything alright?"

Kim shook her head,

"Uh, she's not…" she wore a distracted look on her face and Abby raised an eyebrow in question. Kim noticed the expression and elaborated, "Kerry and I brought the girls skating. Madi fell hard on her arm. Kerry thinks she broke her ulna. She and Emma are parking the car now." Abby came around the front desk and knelt down in front of Madi. Carefully, she pulled back the long sleeve of her possibly-broken wrist and examined it. She poked and prodded it as gently as possible then shook her head, pulled the sleeve back down, and looked at Madi's face; the streams of tears she'd previously cried were stained on her porcelain cheeks and her eyes were bright red. Abby shot her a sympathetic look,

"It's alright, Mads…looks like your mom was right, though…" She straightened up to a full, standing position.

"Does that surprise you, Dr. Lockhart?" Abby peered over Kim's shoulder at the sound of her name; Kerry was but a few feet away, walking towards them with Emma. She smiled a silent hello then redirected her attention towards Madi.

"Let's get you to a bed…"

*****

"So…you went skating?" Abby was leaning against the admit desk talking to Kerry who stood across from her. Kerry nodded, but before she had a chance to answer, Morris butted in from where he stood a few feet over,

"Wait, wait, wait. _You_ ice skated?" He snorted a laugh, "I'd like to see that." Abby narrowed her eyes,

"Shut up, Morris." She snapped. Kerry chuckled,

"No, he's right…I'm surprised it's not me in that bed," she motioned towards the gurney Madi was sleeping on, arm resting on top of a mountain of pillows, Kim and an equally as asleep Emma next to her. She turned her head back, "Ice isn't my thing. And apparently, it's not too fond of Madi, either." Abby laughed quietly then gestured towards Madi,

"Looks like someone's awake…" Kerry turned around and headed towards a very spent Madi.

*****

Kim set Madi, who was in and out of sleep, down onto her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. She took the two pillows Kerry had set out and carefully positioned them under her arm that was covered in a light blue cast from mid-hand to upper arm.

"Are you all set?" She asked quietly. Madi nodded wordlessly.

"Okay…if you need something, just holler and mommy or I will be right here, alright?" Madi nodded again, falling deeper into her slumber. Kim placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and left the bedroom. Heading for her own, she met up with Kerry who was coming from Emma's room.

"How is she?" Kerry asked.

"Exhausted, but doing remarkably well for having a broken ulna and radius. Not to mention that huge cast. Good Lord, that thing weighs as much as she does!" Now in their bedroom, Kim began to  
strip of her clothing while Kerry removed the few pieces of jewelry she wore.

"We really won't know how she's doing until tomorrow; her body's still in shock." Kerry added. Kim sighed in apparent frustration,

"I know that, Kerry; I have a medical license, too. And, believe it or not, I know the neurological effects of- " Her rant was cut off when Kerry spun her around and placed a quieting finger on her lips,

"I'm sorry, Kim. I know that you know. My first instinct is to explain, that's all…I'm sorry." Her apology was genuine and Kim nodded,

"I know…I'm sorry. I overreacted." She tossed her cotton tee shirt and dark jeans in the nearby laundry basket and replaced them with a loose tee shirt and flannel bottoms. Kerry nodded, turned back to her dresser, and changed the subject,

"I really can't believe she broke her radius _and_ ulna…" Kim whipped her head around in surprise,

"You didn't see her fall, did you?" Kerry shook her head, "Jesus, she was flying, caught her blade, and went down. Hard." She shook her head, ridding the image from her head, "I'm surprised she _only_ broke those two bones." Kerry's mouth dropped,

"Guess I'm glad I didn't see it, then…" she, too, exchanged her day wear- a pair of dark wash jeans and a green sweater- for more comfortable pajamas, "She's tough, huh?" There was a hint of pride in her voice. Kim nodded,

"Like her mom…" she smiled, "And I don't mean me." Kerry shook her head as she walked towards the door, heading for the bathroom,

"I think it's a mutually acquired trait, love." Kim chuckled.

* * *

**A/N:** A thank you weekend for giving me a chance to get this chapter up. No thank yous to my English, Physics and Algebra teachers for giving me a ton of homework that is sitting to my left, silently screaming at me to finish it. Thanks for reading :)


	10. January

A/N: Just a heads up without totally giving anything away...1) Kem and John didn't lose Josh back in season ten 2) John didn't come back in season fifteen.

* * *

**January**

"Madi! Psssst! Madi!" Emma padded into Madeline's room, tip-toed up to her bed, and stuck her face right next to her pillow.

"Madi! Wake up!" her short fingers pulled and prodded at Madi's casted arm until the older girl turned her head and faced her sister.

"What…Emma?" She rubbed the sleep from her eyes with her free, right hand.

"Happy Birthday!" The younger girl threw her arms around her sister's neck and jumped up onto the bed, engulfing the now-eight year old in a large embrace. Madi smiled largely when her little sister's statement registered in her sleep-clouded mind. She sat completely upright and Emma loosened her grip, settling onto the bed next to her sister. "Mommy is making breakfast right now!" She grinned a barely-toothed smile, "Waffles and strawberries!" Madi and Emma jumped out of bed and padded downstairs happily, taking two steps at a time.

"There's my birthday girl…" Kim said as she and Madi crossed paths between the kitchen and living room. "Come 'ere!" she embraced the lanky redhead and squeezed tightly, finishing the hug off with an affectionate kiss on the cheek.

Kerry, who'd heard the slight commotion from where she was in the kitchen, set the plate holding a large stack of waffles on the table and went out to see what was going on. Her curious expression broke into a large smile when she saw the three loves of her life, all wearing huge, happy smiles.

"How does it feel to be eight years old, Mads?" She said, engulfing her Madeline in a tight hug. She shook her head slightly as her biological daughter's head nearly reached the upper portion of her chest; she was tall and, in Kerry's maternally biased opinion, was growing up far too fast. Pulling away, Madi beamed,

"I feel the same as I felt yesterday!" she smiled. Kerry knew that meant she felt good; Friday evening had been her birthday party with all her friends. Originally, months ago, she and Kim had planned to bring Madi, three of her friends, and Emma to a local indoor water park. However, since she'd broken her arm the month before, they'd had to arrange for an alternative, cast-friendly activity. After much consideration, they'd settled on a trip to the zoo. It had been a chilly evening, but the girls seemed to have had a great time walking around the festively-lit, winter-themed zoo. Kerry nodded,

"Well, I hope you feel hungry…" the four of them headed into the kitchen.

*

"See, mom? Brian, Leah, Sofie, Caitlin, Noah, and Sammie all signed my new cast yesterday at school…and then Lauren, Eliza and Shania signed it last night!" Madi flexed her left elbow slowly with only a slight grimace and held her purple, day old, short-arm cast out towards Kerry. She nodded, swallowed the bite of food she had in her mouth, and smiled,

"Very nice…" she studied Madi's unnaturally thin arm for a second, "how's your elbow? I bet it's nice to be able to bend it again?" Though Madi had gotten the new, shorter cast Friday morning, Kerry had barely had a second to talk to her about it since. She figured it was as good a time as any, seeing as the eight year old's mind wasn't flustered with the idea of an upcoming party and she didn't have to think about work until later that night. Madi nodded,

"It's much better!" Madi shifted in her seat, curling one long leg underneath herself, "Brian was telling me that when he broke his leg, he had to wear a cast for a really long time. He even had to have surgery…" she shuddered ever so slightly before taking another bite of her waffles. Kerry sat back in her chair, brought her mug to her mouth, took a long sip and placed it back down in front of herself.

"I bet you're glad that you didn't have to have surgery, hey?" Kerry asked more rhetorically than not; she knew her daughter was, as many children are, terrified at the thought of having surgery. _Hell_, she thought, _most adults are afraid of going under the knife._

"Yeah…I don't mind having this, though…" she poked at the purple fiberglass then looked up at her mother, "but I hate when people think I can't do something!" her tone had a touch of annoyance to it. She was making a viable point that Kerry could understand very, very well. "Mrs. Natt, my gym teacher, made me sit out on Friday! It was the first day of gym and everything and she wouldn't even let me do anything fun!" Kerry smirked and shook her head,

"That's because I called your school's nurse and told her you weren't able to participate…" she prepared herself for the wrath she was sure she was about to experience. Physical education was Madi's absolute favorite 'subject' in school; anything that allowed the girl to run around without being reprimanded for being fidgety was right up her alley. Madi's jaw dropped,

"But Mom!" she whined, "I can!" Kerry shook her head,

"Listen, we'll talk about this later tonight…" she stood up from where she was seated. Madi raised an eyebrow suspiciously,

"You promise?" she challenged. Kerry smiled slightly and nodded,

"I promise." She made short time of clearing the table and headed for the living room, "Now, let's go get dressed so we can have some fun, alright?" Madi jumped out of her chair and followed her mother into the living room, toward the stairs.

*

"…and Brian said that they had to put metal in his leg! He has scars and everything…" Madi told her parents and sister from where she sat in the back seat of their car. Kim, who was driving, shot a quick look at Kerry then looked to Madeline through the rearview mirror,

"You know…your mom had surgery on her leg." Madi, who had only been two at the time, evidently didn't remember; her eyes went wide with curiosity.

"Really?" she dragged the word out questioningly. Emma chimed in as well,

"Really, mommy?" Kerry frowned at Kim and nodded.

"Yep…when Madi was about two." She wasn't particularly hoping the two would want any more details; it was old news and a very redundant story. However, something told her they would find it far too interesting.

"What happened?" Emma prodded. Kerry glanced sideways at Kim and then at the two girls via rearview mirror. When Kerry didn't answer right away, Madi jumped in,

"What did you have done?" Kerry snorted. They were, whether they realized it or not, double teaming her. She turned in her seat to face her daughters.

"Do you know where your hip is?" Both girls nodded. Emma pointed right to her hip and a proud smile spread across her face when Kerry nodded. "Yep, that's it." She faced front again and continued talking. "I had my hip replaced."

"I thought only old people had their hips replaced? Like Grammy?" Emma asked bluntly in all seriousness, causing Kim to release a short, loud laugh. Kerry, too, smiled and chuckled, though her tone was much more subdued than Kim's sudden outburst had been.

"You're right…normally older people get their joints replaced. But when I was a kid, I had something wrong with my hip that lasted all through my adulthood. Finally, after I had you," she directed her glance towards Madi, "I decided it was finally time to get it done." Kim interjected,

"…because you, my darling, were just too crazy." She smiled into the mirror towards Madi who grinned. Emma began talking again,

"Were you scared?" the words were spoken quietly but to the point. Kerry turned around once more, looked at Emma, and nodded slowly. Emma nodded in satisfaction and leaned back in her booster seat, apparently out of questions. Kerry chuckled internally- she often wondered where her youngest daughter's questions came from; some were random, some were solitary, and some were just plain out there- and turned back around just as Kim pulled into the nearest open parking space. They were at the mall, which, uncharacteristically, had been Madi's special request. Kerry and Kim had agreed right off the bat; it wasn't often they both had the day off, had a decent amount energy, and had two daughters who were both willing to go to the mall all at once. The four exited the car and headed toward the entrance.

*

"Mommy, I like this one!" Emma held out yet another dress toward Kim. This time, it was an excruciatingly bright shade of pink with yellow and orange flowers all over it; not as bad as the last one, but no closer to the style Kim had in mind. Thankfully, it looked as if it was three or four sizes too big for Emma's petite frame, giving Kim a feasible reason to reject it.

"That's not your size, sweetie…" she turned from where she was searching through racks of miscellaneous children's clothing. "How about we go find mommy and Madi?" Emma nodded, trotted to put the dress back, and rejoined Kim. Taking her daughter's hand, she headed out the double doors of the small shop they had been in and headed for the one place she knew Kerry and Madi would be; Barnes and Noble.

"Why does Mommy and Madi like to read?" Emma asked, tagging along next to Kim as they walked through the wide, mall corridor. Kim shrugged her shoulders a bit,

"Because…" she paused for a second, leaned down, and scooped Emma up, "they just do. You know how you like to have stories read to you?" Emma nodded. "Well, it's the same thing; you like to listen to stories and they like to read them." Emma nodded again, satisfied with the given answer.

They continued through the busy mall, passing a few shops, a couple screaming toddlers and babies, and a packed food court before finally coming upon Barnes & Noble. Weaving through crowds, Kim headed straight for the in-store Starbucks where she knew she'd find Kerry and Madeline.

She kept her eyes peeled and told Emma to do the same, but after a few scans of the café, there was no sight of either red head. Turning away, she headed to look through the rest of the store when a particular laugh caught her attention. Searching for where the sound came from, she located who she was looking for, as well as four others.

"There's mommy and Mads!" Emma pointed as they headed towards them.

"...so you've been where?" Kim could hear Kerry clearly now, "All this continent hopping you've been doing, John…its crazy." John Carter's laugh was deep and mature; much more so since the last time Kim had heard it, back in 2005, when he and Kem had Joshua and had gone back East.

"France, mostly…I've been back to Africa a few times, just for a couple weeks at a time, but with these two," he gestured to the boy who stood at his side and the young girl in his arms, "I've got a bit more to stay home for." Kem elbowed him lightly in the side and the group of them laughed. Kim was now right behind Kerry, but before she could greet them, Emma took care of it,

"Mommy! We've been looking for you and Madi _everywhere_!" her gleeful exclamation drew the attention of all six people who had been involved in the conversation they'd been involved in. Kerry, who had turned around, smiled.

"This," she gestured towards Emma as John had done towards his two children, "is someone you haven't met before. John, Kem, this is our daughter Emma. Emma, these are two of my friends and their children, Joshua and…" she realized she didn't know the daughter's name and gave Kem a questioning look.

"Amelia." She smiled lightheartedly.

"..Joshua and Amelia." Kerry smiled. Emma smiled and waved.

"Wow, Dr. Legaspi…you look great!" John smiled. He hadn't seen Kim in years and she looked the same; great.

"Please, Carter, call me Kim...and you don't look half bad yourself." She said with a smile. "Nice to see you as well, Kem….it's been a while." She and Kem had met only a few times, probably eleven or twelve, but they had become friendly acquaintances right off the bat.

"You, too." Kem nodded graciously.

"Not to break up our reunion here, but we should get going…" Kerry smiled, "how long are you guys staying stateside?" John's smile faded a bit.

"Just a few days longer…we're leaving Friday…the funeral is on Tuesday." Kerry nodded her head knowingly. Kim made a mental note of asking Kerry whose funeral they were going to be attending.

"Well, if you guys aren't doing anything tonight…would you like to stop over for Madi's birthday dinner? Abby, Luka and Joe, their son, are stopping over as well…" Kerry asked, subconsciously running a hand through Madi's hair. Kem looked to John, who nodded.

"We'd love to...it'd be a good chance to catch up." Kerry smiled,

"Sounds good." She pulled a piece of paper and a pen from her purse, turned it over, and began jotting down numbers and an address, "here's our address, my cell phone number and our house phone. Dinner's around 7:30 so stop by around 7:00 or so…whatever works for you guys." She handed the paper to Kem.

"Alright," John nodded, "we'll see you then."

The two parties went in opposite directions.

*

"Thing one and thing two are both, finally, asleep." Kerry walked into their bedroom, headed for her dresser.

"Without a fight?" Kim sat up in bed. Kerry laughed cynically.

"Thing one, being Madi, was out like a light. Thing two, however, was the tougher one. Someone just doesn't get the concept of bedtime." She extracted a pair of pajamas and began slipping out of her day clothes.

"And how's the burn?" Kerry held out her hand towards Kim, showing her the slightly-scorched palm.

"Perfectly fine, Dr. Kim." she smiled, "Last time I let five kids run around my kitchen while I'm cooking, though." Kim chuckled. It was true; the eight year old, seven year old, two five year olds and four  
year old who had been running around the house that night had been near-disastrous.

"They're cute, eh? Amelia and Josh?" Kim asked, crossing her legs to sit Indian-style. Kerry nodded,

"Yeah…Amelia reminds me of Carter. Young Carter, that is. John's so serious, now." She observed. Kim snorted,

"Or maybe you've just loosened up a bit…" Kerry shot her a mock smile before letting out a laugh,

"I'm going to go wash up." Kim nodded and leaned back in bed.

"I'll be here."

She could hear Kerry chuckle from down the hall and could picture her shaking her head.

* * *

A/N: I've been writing these chapters a little bit at a time over the past week...so I appologize for any inconsistency, lol, I've had a hard time keeping track. Also, I really would have loved to write about the actual dinner, but this chapter was already pushing 2,500 words and I REALLY wanted to get this up tonight, so I skipped over it. I might write some kind of reuinion like that in the future, though...hm...Well, thank you for reading! :D


	11. February

**February**

"Hey Kim," Luka walked by the admit desk as Kim walked through the double doors of triage, "what are you doing here?"

"Luka, hey…I'm taking Kerry out for lunch…" she scanned what she could see of the ER, "do you know where she is?" Luka gestured his head back towards trauma 1. Kim nodded in thanks and walked deeper into the ER, her high heeled boots making the faintest clicking noise against the tile floor.

"…Alright, Chaz, suture these abrasions and call pysch when he comes around…" Kerry ordered as she backed out of the trauma room, "then check in with Abby or Morris if I'm not back yet." Turning around, she pushed through the double doors and walked right into Kim.

"Oh, hey," she smiled, then looked at her silver wristwatch, "I'm late?" Kim shook her head,

"Right on time, actually." They walked towards admit where Kerry placed a few charts back in the rack then headed off towards the lounge.

"So, where are you bringing me?" Kerry extracted her coat and purse from her locker. Kim chuckled,

"Where am_ I_ bringing _you?_" She mocked, "I thought _you_ were taking _me _out…" Kerry shook her head with a smile and threaded her arm through Kim's as she walked by her.

"Whatever, Kim…but if we don't get a move on, we'll be eating in the cafeteria; I need to be back in no more than an hour." Kerry pushed through the lounge door and headed back towards the ER.

"An hour? That's not nearly enough time to finish what I had planned…" Kim said, her voice thick with both seduction and mockery. Kerry produced a snorting noise from the back of her throat.

"Very funny, Legaspi…"

"I know…I'm a riot." Kim walked through the double doors again and continued through triage. "But seriously… '_no more than an hour'_? You're chief of staff…who is really keeping tabs on how long your lunch break is?" She asked, pushing through the last set of doors into the cold ambulance bay. Kerry shivered and reattached herself to Kim's arm.

"No one is keeping tabs on me. I'm just-" Kim cut her off,

"-Setting a good example. I know. But Ker, you've been setting a good example for the past eight years…" Kim shook her head, "I think they get the message." Kerry chuckled,

"I think the message has just finally gotten through to half of them, actually." They turned left out of the bay, heading for the El platform. "But I guess I can stay out an extra half hour or so…" she winked. "Where are we going, anyway?" Kerry realized, once they were half way up the stairs, that she had no clue where Kim was taking her for lunch.

"Home." Kim watched Kerry's eyebrow as it rose and waited for a question that never came. "Don't you want to know why I'm bringing you home?" Kerry shook her head,

"I'm up for the surprise." Kim nodded as the train approached.

*

"That was," Kerry licked her index finger, "amazing." Kim laughed aloud,

"So says the woman who used to despise double fudge brownies…" Kerry leaned back against the counter as Kim finished placing the brownies in a Tupperware container.

"What can I say? It took ten years, but you did it." Kim set the container on the counter and stepped towards Kerry.

"I guess so." Kim wrapped her arms around Kerry's waste, "Are you disappointed that I didn't take you out?" Kerry shook her head as she moved closer to Kim.

"Not at all...besides, Valentine's Day is just so overrated." Kim huffed a laugh at the statement and Kerry raised her head, shooting her a questioning look.

"What do you mean; it's 'just so overrated'?" Kim asked, her tone baring the slightest bit of offense. Kerry shrugged and pulled Kim back, closer towards her.

"Nothing…it's a cute holiday, I'm just not that big of a fan." She picked her head up and looked towards Kim, "I don't need a holiday to show you my love." Kerry reached up on her tippy toes, stretching to reach the head on Kim's 5'9" frame. Kim caught the hint and dipped down, meeting Kerry's lips with her own. Kerry went back down onto the flats of her feet and Kim stooped gracefully to compensate the shift. Kerry pulled away after a few more moments and leaned her forehead against Kim's, "I love you." The words came out breathy and quiet and Kim giggled,

"I know." She leaned in once more and met Kerry's lips, holding the position longer and longer. Kerry began moving her hands from where they rested on Kim's face, down to her arms, then around her back when, suddenly, a shrill beeping interrupted them.

"Damnit." Kerry groaned, placing her hand on the waistband of her black pants, reaching for her pager. Kim pulled her left hand from where she held Kerry's waist and checked the time. "911. I've got to get back." Kerry sighed, not moving away from Kim.

"Come on, Ker…I'll drive you." Kerry nodded and pulled away, heading out towards the living room where they'd previously discarded their coats and bags.

*

"I don't know why you love this band so much…" Kerry commented from where she sat in the passenger seat of Kim's car as she popped in a U2 CD. Kim smiled, looked quickly at Kerry, and turned up the volume, waiting for the first track to start.

"_The heart is a bloom, Shoots up through the stony ground , There's no room, No space to rent in this town_"

Kerry shook her head as Kim turned it up, even louder, in good-spirited spite,

"You know, sometimes I wonder where Emma gets the attitude from," She teased, "but now I know it's all you." Kim's jaw dropped in mock-offensive as she patted her heart with her right hand,

"I'm hurt, Ker." Kerry smirked.

__

"_You're on the road, But you've got no destination, You're in the mud, In the maze of her imagination.."_

Kim removed her hand and placed it back on the wheel and continued to drive through the somewhat stop-and-go, midday traffic. Just as she was about to open her mouth to speak, her phone went off. Keeping her left hand on the wheel, Kim bent over at the waist in search of the cell phone that she had carelessly left somewhere deep inside her purse. The ringing continued once, twice more and, after being poked with multiple pens, Kim let her eyes travel downwards.

"_See the world in green and blue, See China right in front of you, See the canyons broken by cloud, See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out…"_

"Stop, Kim. Let me look," Kerry said, leaning in to grab the purse from Kim whose attention had been drawn away from the road. Kim glanced up to the road then back down,

"No, I've got it…" she said as she grasped the phone, "Gottcha!" Kim exclaimed triumphantly as she looked at the screen of her phone, trying to read the screen. "It was only the office-"

"KIM-" Kerry tried to get Kim's attention and grab the wheel, but both attempts came too late; the car sped straight through the red light. Making a split second decision as the situation registered, Kim sped forward, hoping and praying that she'd be able to get them, safely, into the groove of the merging traffic. Just as she thought they'd made it into the clear, Kerry saw a show of glimmering, red paint and bright headlights out of the car door window of her side. Before she had a chance to react, it hit. Hard.

*

"How long have we been at this?" Abby asked, blinking back the tears that were forming in her eyes as she continuously pumped on the chest in front of her. Luka looked up with somber eyes,

"Sixty three minutes…" He started pulling off his gloves, "…I think…I think that's enough." Abby pumped once, twice, three times more before backing off. The long, even drone of the monitor continued to whir, and to Abby, it became the solitary sound she could hear. It filled her ears, killing the thoughts that were begging to be formed in her head. Luka wrote the time of death on the chart Sam handed him and flicked off the monitor. When the consistent noise ceased, Abby realized monitor hadn't been drowning out all of the other noise; it was silent to begin with. He turned around to face the door and wasn't the least bit surprised to find a number of faces peering into the trauma room, a multitude of expressions drawn across their faces. Turning around, he went back towards the bed and unhooked the ambu bag from the tube he had meticulously placed down her throat and placed it off to the side.

"Damnit…" Abby whispered, tears streaming steadily down her face, "damnit, damnit, damnit, Luka, damnit." Her cussing got louder and more distressed until, when Luka finally wrapped his arms around her, she let out a sob. At that point, Luka, too, allowed a few tears of his own to journey from the corners of his eyes down his cheeks.

"I know…"

* * *

**A/N:** 1) YAY for totally putting off homework until the last minute to get this thing up! 2) YAY for midweek posting for the first time in, like, three weeks! 3) YAY for actually only having one more chapter to write. and 4) YAY for you taking your time to read this... thanks as always...

_**p.s.** anyone have any ideas who was on the gurney...? :P_


	12. March

**March**

The rain was falling in near unison with the tears from Kim's eyes; slowly, calmly. The rain hit the overhead tarp with great noise and nearly drowned out the words the minister was so somberly speaking. Kim didn't mind; she'd never been one for funerals. It meant saying goodbye, and saying goodbye meant Kerry wasn't coming back. She wasn't, Kim knew, but she wasn't ready to accept it. Sitting literally front and center, she held either of her daughter's hands in her own as the service went on, and felt the vibrations of quiet sobs that journeyed from their bodies, through their arms, to her own; she felt as if she was carrying the sorrow of not only herself, but the two of them, as well. She didn't care. Kerry would have done the same thing.

The casket was already underground; it had been since only a few days after the accident. Kim, nor anyone else, had been there; she'd been in the hospital, recovering from surgery. The surgery she wished Kerry had had in lieu of the funeral service being held for her.

The minister stopped talking- droning, rather- and everyone murmured an amen; Kim didn't. She still hadn't heard the words he was saying and was glad of it; she knew they'd hurt too much.

Everyone began shifting and moving, readying to stand to filter away. Her mother and father, too, stood, and came to Kim, telling her they'd take the girls for a few moments. Kim nodded in silent approval and, not volunteerting a look to either of her daughters, squeezed either hand she held and let go. Her mother scooped Emma up in her arms, situating the black dress as it blew in the cold breeze, as her father took Madeline's hand and led her away. Kim stood and moved from under the shelter of the black canopy and moved out into the wind and rain, allowing the cold wetness to attack her hair and clothing. Ignoring it- or maybe enjoying the feeling- she wandered straight across towards the gravestone that so eloquently read:

_"WEAVER_

_Mother, Wife, Friend, Healer_

_May 12th, 1963- February 14th, 2011"_

Sighing, Kim could only stare at the dark granite-like stone.

Unsure of how long she'd been standing there in solitude, Kim jumped when a large, gentle hand was rested upon her shoulder. She didn't turn to see who it was. Instead, she waited all but a few moments for the intruder to introduce themselves.

"Kim…" Luka placed a coat of sorts upon her shoulders, shielding her from the rain.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do, Luka." The statement was one of the truest, clearest things Kim had ever said. Luka spoke to Kim's back, still standing behind the woman who was nearly as tall as he.

"And I can't tell you what you're supposed to do. Because I don't know, Kim. Truly, I don't. But, what I do know is that your daughters need you. They need you to keep going. You don't have to be strong all the time, Kim-" Luka's statement took an abrupt halt when Kim's shoulders hopped and a sob of sorts released itself from the pit of her stomach. Kim turned and faced Luka,

"But she was. All the time." Another sob escaped as Luka pulled her into a tight embrace.

*

Standing in the opening to the medium sized living room of her parent's house- where the reception, as they called it, was being held- Kim stared into the small crowd of people, wanting to neither enter nor turn away. Suck it, she told herself, and crept in. Only about half of the attendees of the funeral came back to Kim's parents' house- about eight or nine, all of whom - and they were all sitting in the company of each other. Silently, she walked over and sat off to the side of the group in an unoccupied recliner. She listened in onto the conversation that was taking place; something about the nineties, Mark Greene, and Robert Romano. There was laughter coming from the story-tellers- Haleh, Jeanie, Luka, and Carter, mostly, as they'd know Kerry the longest- and those who were listening intently.

"…and there was this huge chemical spill…Kerry passed out, had a grand mal seizure, and was back up in no more than six hours…" Carter stopped for a second, sipping at the beer he held in his hand, "she had Yosh drag around an oxygen tank for the rest of her shift." He finished with a smile and was responded to with a few laughs and smiles and a nod of remembrance from Jeanie. Kim, too, found herself smiling at the image.

The stories went on and on, and the laughter became louder and more at ease. Kim, who hadn't uttered a word, felt calm and relaxed and was content to be surrounded by those who'd loved her wife. One particular story- one that came from Carter of the days he'd spent living in Kerry's basement apartment- had the group in a fit of laughter. Kim, too, laughed. She continued to laugh and smile until a small, soft hand could be felt on her arm. Turning to the left, Kim saw Madi- who had been asleep upstairs with Emma- standing at her side. Her eyes were- as they had been for the past couple weeks- rimmed in red and swollen, though her cheeks were visibly dry of tears.

"Mom-" Madi couldn't bear to say the word, "I…I…" she crinkled her face up, trying to push the tears away, but was overcome when Kim wrapped her arms around her and drew her into her lap. The tears flew quicker and quicker as sobs jostled Madeline's body.

"It's okay, sweetie…shh…it's alright." Kim cooed softly into the ear that was covered by the all-too familiar red hair and rocked the eight year old slowly.

After a while, Madi's sobs ceased and she rested silently on Kim's lap, head rested on her shoulder. The crowd diverged- Carter placing a gentle kiss on Kim's cheek with a promise to stop by before he left to go back to France, Jeanie, Haleh, and a couple other nurses with reassuring, sympathetic squeezes of the forearm and pats of the shoulder, and Morris, Pratt, and Ray with nods of the head and waves of the hand- until only Kim's parents, the girls, and Luka and Abby remained. Abby left the sitting area in search of something to do, and found work in the kitchen with Kim's mom, washing the dishes while Luka came over to Kim and silently offered to pick the sleeping Madeline up off of her lap. She nodded in agreement and felt a rush of relieve when blood began to re-circulate through her thighs. Madi stirred only slightly before dropping her head back on Luka's shoulder. Kim stood and swiftly cleared off the couch and Luka lay Madi down easily, draping a soft throw over her drained body.

Kim gave Luka a phony smile of thanks before busying herself with the clearing and straightening the small mess the day's company had left. Luka, too, began to silently clear the living room of small hors d'oeuvre plates and plastic cups.

Moving to the mantle, where a couple cups had been left, Luka intended to pick them up when a certain picture caught his eye. It was a photo of Kim, Kerry, Madeline, and Emma. They were all smiling, dressed casually in outfits that weren't matching or planned (it was, evidently, a candid shot), and all genuinely looked happy. Hey ran his hand over it, his fingers caressing the cool metal of the frame, and stared at Kerry's face in particular.

"She loved you, Luka. You, and Abby, and Joe. Very, very much." Kim whispered from behind as she moved towards him. Luka could only bite his lip and nod, unable to find neither suitable words nor the strength to turn and face her. "She trusted you."

"She was an amazing woman, Kim." Luka spoke quietly and could almost see Kim's head nod though his back was turned.

"I know she was. And I took that away-" Luka spun around, a stern expression spread across his face.

"No, Kim, it wasn't your fault. It isn't your fault. That driver was high off his ass. That's why he's in jail and that's why you aren't." Kim stared at an unseen pattern in the carpet below her feet. "It isn't your fault." He stretched out his left hand and let it give what comfort it could on her shoulder. Raising her head, Kim looked Luka in the eye with glistening eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

"Thank you, Luka…for everything." Luke nodded,

"We're here for you, Kim. And we'll be here for you. Until you don't need us anymore and longer." Kim smiled slightly.

"You're good at the whole consoling thing." Luka chuckled and nodded.

*

"Mads…Mads….Madi?" Emma whispered hoarsely from where she stood in the doorway of Madeline's dark bedroom. Madi turned over in her bed and faced the door. Patting the bed, she gestured silently for Emma to join her. Emma silently moved across the bedroom, climbed into the full-sized bed, and snuggled close to her older sister. It was a practiced movement; they'd ended up sleeping in the same bed nearly every night since their mother's death.

"I love you, Madi." Emma ran her hand through the red hair in front of her. Madi turned over so she was face to face with her sister.

"I love you too, Emma. Forever and always. Like what mom used to say." Emma nodded, smiled in content, and rolled onto her back so she was facing upwards to the ceiling.

"I love you mommy. And I miss you. But I'll always love you." She spoke to the wind in a barely audible voice before turning onto her opposite side and shutting her eyes.

"Goodnight, Em." Madi said, turning to get comfortable herself.

*

For the fifth night in a row, Kim heard footsteps crossing the hall from Emma's room to Madeline's. And she knew that, the next morning, she'd find her two daughters sharing one bed for the sixth morning in a row. Normally she would have tried to reverse the behavior, but she didn't have the heart to tear the two apart; _whatever makes them feel better_, she thought, _whatever makes them feel better._ Squeezing her eyes shut, Kim rolled into a near-fetal position and held the soft, cotton tee shirt that bared her favorite scent close to her face.

"I love you…" she murmured quietly before shutting her mind down.

* * *

Start: 2/14/10

Finish: 3/18/10

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you, Thank you, Thank you so much for reading! This story was interesting to write...definitely some rough spots...but I hope you enjoyed it :)


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